http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/06/3183298.htm Hope Welsh has alot of life insurance, that windshield can't hold up, quartz or not. Oddly, Challenger Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench, isn't the closest seafloor to the Earth's center, its parts of the Arctic Ocean due to the non-spherical shape of the planet.
Descents The Swiss-designed, Italian-built, United States Navy bathyscaphe Trieste reached the bottom at 1:06 p.m. on January 23, 1960, with U.S. Navy Lieutenant Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard on board.[3] Iron shot was used for ballast, with gasoline for buoyancy. The onboard systems indicated a depth of 11,521 m (37,799 ft), but this was later revised to 10,916 m (35,814 ft).At the bottom, Walsh and Piccard were surprised to discover sole or flounder about 30 cm (1 ft) long,[9] as well as a shrimp.[1] According to Piccard, "The bottom appeared light and clear, a waste of firm diatomaceous ooze". Best part: "After passing 9,000 metres one of the outer Plexiglas window panes cracked, shaking the entire vessel"